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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/25656790">Aftermath</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/BatmanWhoLaughss/pseuds/BatmanWhoLaughss'>BatmanWhoLaughss</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>Your War's Not Ended [2]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Star Wars - All Media Types, Star Wars: Rebellion Era - All Media Types, Star Wars: Rebels</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Domestic Fluff, Episode: s01e15 Fire Across the Galaxy, Father-Son Relationship, Gen, Missing Scene, Parental Kanan Jarrus, Post-Episode: s01e15 Fire Across the Galaxy</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-08-01</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-08-01</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-18 10:08:24</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>General Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>1,594</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/25656790</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/BatmanWhoLaughss/pseuds/BatmanWhoLaughss</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>After Mustafar, and Fulcrum's big reveal, Kanan decides that he and Ezra have some things to talk about.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Ezra Bridger &amp; Kanan Jarrus</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>Your War's Not Ended [2]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/series/1759150</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>14</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>97</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>Aftermath</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>a sequel/companion piece to my other fic <a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/24246544">Your War's Not Ended</a>!! </p><p>I felt like there were more scenes I wanted to explore during this time that didn't fit into the original fic so I'm writing them as individual fics. It seemed like Kanan and Ezra would definitely have a lot to talk about after Mustafar, so I wrote them being adorable together. I hope you like it!</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <span>Kanan found Ezra holed up in his room, curled up on his bunk and reading a holonovel. He could sense something was… off about Ezra. He’d sensed it ever since he got out of the hospital after Mustafar. It didn’t alarm him, not </span>
  <em>
    <span>yet</span>
  </em>
  <span> anyway, but Kanan knew that he and Ezra needed to talk. The kid seemed normal during their training sessions– recently resumed now that Kanan was fully back on his feet– but he could sense an aura of curiosity around Ezra that wasn’t there before. It was one he recognized from his own childhood, when he questioned everything without a thought for the consequences. </span>
  <em>
    <span>I have questions, Master. </span>
  </em>
  <span>He chuckled quietly. He supposed the least he could do was try and answer Ezra’s questions the way Master Billaba had answered his.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Ezra glanced up as Kanan stepped inside, a small smile on his face. “Hey kid,” Kanan said. His eyes unconsciously drifted to the burns on Ezra’s face. They’d healed nicely, but the scars would always be there, and Kanan couldn’t help the small pang of guilt that rushed through him. He’d never forgive himself for letting Ezra get hurt. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>But Ezra was still smiling, putting the datapad down and hopping out of bed. Kanan jerked his head towards the door. “How ‘bout we go down to the cargo bay, get away for a while?” </span>
  <em>
    <span>Do some Jedi stuff,</span>
  </em>
  <span> was the underlying implication, and he knew Ezra could tell. Jedi training was still exciting for him, somehow, even after everything they’d been through. Kanan was grateful that the kid was still willing to walk this path. He was again reminded of a young Caleb Dume, just happy to be a Padawan, even in the middle of a warzone. He had to suppress the mess of emotions that image stirred. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Ezra nodded, grabbing his saber from the drawer under his bunk and moving past Kanan to the door. The kid was practically bouncing, the swirl of curiosity and slight tinge of worry radiating from him temporarily dimmed. Kanan shook his head, following Ezra out the door. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>---</span>
</p><p>
  <span>They were seated across from one another on the cargo bay floor a while later. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Ezra had wanted to spar with him for a while, and Kanan was happy to oblige; he knew that the adrenaline of a fight could sometimes help unlock suppressed emotions the way other things couldn’t. So, he’d walked Ezra through some basic training forms before they started really fighting. Part of him was hyper-focused on making sure Ezra got the basics down, especially after the fight on the Destroyer, but he tried to clamp down on his “overprotective master” feelings, at least for a little while. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Finally, when they were both breathing hard, Kanan suggested they meditate for a while, and Ezra was happy to do so. They sat in blissful silence for a while. Kanan would occasionally guide Ezra through some basic breathing exercises, but otherwise they were both enjoying the quiet. It was a nice breather after the fight, before they came to the real reason Kanan had asked him here.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Kanan could sense Ezra’s curious unease coming back as they meditated, and their connection to the Force meant that he felt it even more strongly now. He could practically </span>
  <em>
    <span>feel</span>
  </em>
  <span> Ezra’s doubts as if they were his own, and finally he sighed. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Ezra, look,” he began. “I think we should talk.” Inwardly, Kanan cringed. He was never good at starting these conversations. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>He felt Ezra tense up slightly as he spoke. “About what?” His voice was apprehensive. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Kanan raised an eyebrow, though he kept his eyes closed. “You have questions. You’re uneasy,”he said. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Now Kanan did crack one eye open, watching Ezra as he cringed. The kid’s eyes were open, watching Kanan. “That obvious, huh?” </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Kanan chuckled. “Questions seem to be the natural state of your mind,” he muttered, recalling a long ago conversation that tugged at his heart. Then he sighed again. “A lot has happened the past couple weeks.” He was trying to give Ezra an opening, trying to get at the source of the problem without pushing him further away. It was a delicate balance, one that he still hadn’t quite mastered with his padawan, but one that he hoped he was getting better at. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>He was watching Ezra now, as the kid rubbed at the back of his neck. “I…” Ezra swallowed and tried again. “I was really worried about you,” he admitted with a grimace. Kanan was surprised; apparently his lessons about being mindful of one’s feelings had more of an impact than he thought. “I was worried we’d be too late.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“But you weren’t.” Kanan put a hand on Ezra’s shoulder. “You did well–  I’m real proud of you, you know?” </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Ezra nodded. “I know. But I didn’t last long against that Inquisitor,” he muttered darkly.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Kanan shook his head. “You shouldn’t have had to fight him in the first place. I’m sorry you weren’t better prepared.” He felt that dark swirl of emotions again, that mixture of guilt and residual panic at the image of Ezra lying prone on the gangway. “When I thought you were gone, I–” He swallowed thickly. “I don’t know what I would have done if you didn’t make it.” </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Ezra was looking at him with a face that Kanan didn’t quite recognize. There was a mix of awe and love and grief on the kid’s face that he didn’t quite know how to decipher, and Kanan was surprised when Ezra spoke up. “We all made it back in one piece.” He gave Kanan a wry smile. “Mostly.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Kanan swallowed. </span>
  <em>
    <span>Mostly.</span>
  </em>
  
</p><p>
  <span>They meditated in silence for another few minutes. He was proud of Ezra, he really was, for having the strength to admit his feelings openly. Before, he may have kept them bottled up, but he was learning. He was trying, and Kanan felt his pride swell even more. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>But after a while, Kanan knew there was still more to say. “There’s something else on your mind, isn’t there?” </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Ezra was silent for a moment or two, and Kanan could sense that he was gathering his thoughts, trying to figure out how best to bring up what was bothering him.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Do you think there are others? Other Jedi that survived?” </span>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>That</span>
  </em>
  <span> threw Kanan for a loop, until he remembered Fulcrum’s big reveal when they got back to the </span>
  <em>
    <span>Ghost. </span>
  </em>
  <span>Of course, the discovery that another Jedi had survived the Purge, that he </span>
  <em>
    <span>wasn’t</span>
  </em>
  <span> the last one, had been messing with Kanan’s head since they got back, but he should have known that Ezra would have questions too. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I don’t know,” Kanan murmured. “I hoped, for a long time, that there were other survivors, but after a while I stopped hoping. Tried to focus on moving forward, rather than looking back.” He supposed it was as close to the truth as anything else, but Ezra didn’t need to know the finer details of </span>
  <em>
    <span>exactly</span>
  </em>
  <span> how low Kanan had sunk before he got to that point.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“So you didn’t know? About Ahsoka?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“No. I wish I had, though. In the old days, her and Skywalker’s exploits were… they were damn near </span>
  <em>
    <span>legends</span>
  </em>
  <span>. She could have been a great teacher for you.” </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Ezra smiled ruefully at him. “You’ve taught me plenty, Kanan.” </span>
</p><p>
  <span>His heart swelled, just like it always did when Ezra seemed to really take his lessons to heart. “She’s much closer to a real Jedi than I’m ever going to be. Sometimes I wish you could have been there, in the old days. Grown up with real teachers.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Now Ezra reached out, putting a hand on Kanan’s shoulder. “I like where I am.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Kanan laughed. “My master would have really liked you,” he mumbled softly. And she would have; he had no doubt that Depa Billaba and Ezra Bridger would have gotten along famously, had they had the chance to meet.  “I’m glad. Still, maybe Ahsoka can help, now that it looks like we’ll be spending more time with the fleet.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Ezra nodded, though from his expression it looked like he was deep in thought. He glanced briefly down at the floor before looking Kanan in the eye again. “Is it better now? Knowing that you’re not the last of the old Jedi?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Kanan sighed again. “It’s… complicated.” He rubbed the back of his neck. “It’s nice knowing that there’s someone else out there who understands what the old days were like. But now that I know Ahsoka’s alive… Part of me can’t help but wonder whether there are others out there too.” </span>
</p><p>
  <span>He’d been trying to ignore that possibility since he found out about Ahsoka, but the truth was that a part of him was still </span>
  <em>
    <span>reeling</span>
  </em>
  <span> at the thought of other survivors. His imagination was running wild; thoughts of putting together a group of surviving Jedi to fight back against the Empire were consuming the hopeful part of him that he thought was locked away. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Ezra smiled, though. “Maybe we can try to look for others. See if anyone else is out there.” His eyes were bright, full of a youthful optimism that Kanan hadn’t felt in too long. He could feel it rolling off of Ezra in waves through the connection they shared. Even though he knew in his heart that even finding </span>
  <em>
    <span>one</span>
  </em>
  <span> other survivor was a one in a million shot, he couldn’t bring himself to let Ezra down. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Yeah, kid. Maybe we can.” And for a moment, the small part of him that was still Caleb Dume, hoped they could too.</span>
</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>Feedback is love as always. Feel free to follow me on <a href="https://twitter.com/targaryenjedii">twitter</a> or <a href="https://batmanwholaughss.tumblr.com/">tumblr</a> if you wanna stay in touch!</p></blockquote></div></div>
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